Filipino fisherman Juancho Galaroza and his wife Ofelia worked night and day to make their Canadian dream come true.

The couple delivered newspapers at dawn, cleaned houses and did odd jobs to put their teen daughter and son through school.

It was their only investment for the future.

But last Christmas tragedy struck.

A fire ripped through their Richmond apartment killing Jovel Galaroza, 15 and her brother Philip, 14.

Now the couple are going to court to salvage what they can of their Canadian dream.

In a writ filed in the B.C. Supreme Court last week, the Galarozas claim their former neighbours Barbara Sobieski and her son Matthew are responsible for the unintended fire which killed their children.

It was the intention of the family that the children would receive a formal education and provide financial support to their parents, states the writ filed in Vancouver.

The tragic incident occurred in the early morning of Dec 22, 2001 - less than nine months after the Galaroza children arrived from the Philippines to join their parents in Richmond.

Like most mornings, Juancho and his wife were delivering newspapers that day leaving their children to sleep in the rented suite at the Clipper Cove apartment complex on 8660 Granville Ave., Richmond. The fire, the suit alleges, started in the neighbouring Sobieski suit.

Richmond RCMP at the time of the incident said the fire was started accidentally by someone who left an open flame Christmas candle on a wooden balcony. The Galarozas in their suit allege that Barbara Sobieski did not properly supervise her son Matthew, who was playing with matches and candles in their apartment and went to bed leaving the candle burning.

They also claim the Sobieskis left Christmas lights untended and in a dangerous condition when they went to bed that night.

The fire trapped the Galaroza children who died of smoke inhalation.

More than 100 others from some 55 apartments damaged by the fire were left homeless.

The Richmond Secondary School opened its doors on Christmas Eve after the fire to offer counselling to students trying to cope with the deaths of the siblings, who had joined the school earlier in the year.

"They were just the most lovely students you could imagine," said principal Darlene Macklam.

The Galarozas also lost most of their possessions and money in the fire. They had to rely on public donations for their children's funerals.

Now living rent-free with a friend in South Vancouver, the Galarozas who hail from the village of Initao, Misamis Oriental in the Philippines live on $1,200 a month doing house cleaning and odd jobs.

They are claiming damages for the loss of financial support, household services and guidance from their children, in addition to special damages.